


We Can All See

by misslantsov



Category: Nikolai Series - Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo, The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: F/M, For one chapter only, More tags to be added, basically everyone is a pov character, but i'm not tagging them because i don't like to mention a ship once and tag an entire fic with it, except nikolai and zoya, other relationships are mentioned - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:10:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26320126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misslantsov/pseuds/misslantsov
Summary: Everyone around Nikolai and Zoya can tell that they are in love. Except for them. It’s a long journey, watching the King of Ravka and his Grisha General come to the conclusion that has been obvious for quite some time.
Relationships: Nikolai Lantsov/Zoya Nazyalensky
Comments: 1
Kudos: 24
Collections: Grishaverse Big Bang 2020





	1. Prologue I: Zoya

**Author's Note:**

> I will be coming back through to add the citations for direct quotes from the books. I do not own the characters, I just share in their pain at the obliviousness of Nikolai and Zoya.

For the prince, what would she do? He was as handsome as she was beautiful, and she knew that she would make an excellent queen. She supposed she could understand his reasons for pursuing Alina, but that didn’t mean that she liked being ignored in favour of a naïve child like Alina. What could she offer that Zoya couldn’t? 

Yes, Alina was the sun summoner, but she didn’t have to work for the position she had. Yes, she had come a long way since the nervous and unconfident girl that Zoya had met all that time ago, but Zoya had been at this for close to a decade. She fully understood what was needed, Alina had no experience to her name, aside from this war. Yes, she was a good person, but she had been taken advantage of so recently and was potentially still being taken advantage of by the Darkling. She knew what that was like, how one could lash out and hurt others when that all went wrong. After all, she had broken the ribs of the sun summoner when it happened to her. What could Alina, whose power held much more of a potential than hers, do if that happened? Who could she hurt? And Alina- if they survived this, she deserved to marry the man that she loved and live a quiet happily ever after. She didn’t need or want to be in the public spotlight, and Zoya could understand that. It wasn’t something that was easy to do or be.

Of course it would come off as jealousy to anyone else who heard it, but Zoya wasn’t jealous of an orphan with no fashion taste. How could she be? She was made to be Queen, and Alina was made to live on a farm raising goats with the tracker. After all, she would be happy like that. 

“Toss him over. Break his heart cruelly,” she said. “I will gladly give our poor prince comfort, and I would make a magnificent queen.”

And so she would.


	2. Prologue II: Nikolai

Nikolai would be a liar if he said that he hadn’t noticed the Squaller. She was the most beautiful woman Nikolai had ever seen, and he had been around the world and seen more women than he could count. She was powerful, strong, beautiful, and terrifying.  
Yes, he was scared of her, of her power. The one time he had deigned to look her in the eyes, he had seen a permanent storm brewing within them, and he had almost become captivated, though the sailor within him told him to flee from this siren storm.  
The power within her captivated him to a degree that he couldn’t hold himself back from wanting to love her. He was a sailor, he needed wind to fill his sails to take him across the world and back home. He needed wind to survive, and if the wind was encased in such a beautiful woman, he would be damned if he found a way to say no to her.  
No, he wasn’t in love. He was trying des perately to love Alina. His friend, someone that the people would accept as a Queen for Ravka when this was all over. He was desperately trying to get her to love him, though he knew that it hurt her and Mal every moment of every day.  
In a better world, the two of them might be happy together, but in this world, in this Ravka, sacrifices needed to be made that could tear them apart. He didn’t want Alina and Mal to lose each other, they were best friends. Maybe they were even meant to be.  
He had always wanted to marry for love, and he didn’t think that love could be forced. He was trying to force not only himself, but Alina, to be in love, and it wouldn’t work. Love didn’t involve force.  
He tried to block his love for Zoya from his mind, but when Alina suggested Zoya as a bride, as his queen, he was taken aback. He couldn’t think of her in that way. The storm would swallow him and Ravka might be doomed, no matter how happy he would be.  
“Zoya?” he asked, surprise in his voice. “I make it a habit to never seduce anyone prettier than I am.”  
But he was still willing to try, if he could find a way to keep Ravka, and himself, afloat in her stormy eyes.


	3. Chapter One: Alina

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following Zoya’s comment in Ruin & Rising about throwing Nikolai over so that she can provide him comfort. Alina wondering if there is something more, given Zoya’s interest in attractive men. Touch of Malina.

Toss him over. Break his heart cruelly. I will gladly give our poor prince comfort, and I would make a magnificent queen.

Zoya? I make it a habit to never seduce anyone prettier than I am. 

Alina shook her head as she settled down for the evening. Nikolai and Zoya were both incredibly insufferable, gorgeous people. She was almost certain that Nikolai’s words had been an insult to her, and that he had to have some kind of attraction towards Zoya. After all, she couldn’t think of anyone else that Nikolai thought was prettier than him, it seemed impossible. 

She wondered if, in light of her failure to get Nikolai to turn his attention towards Zoya, the Squaller would just seize his attentions for herself. She certainly had the guts and the confidence to offer herself to the future king. She seemed to want it bad enough, and Alina had to think it was a good thing that this time she hadn’t lashed out and broken any of her ribs in her desire for something that she wanted. 

Even if the two of them did decide to marry and lead the country together, Alina would still agree that Ravka deserved a Grisha queen. No, she didn’t have to be best friends with Zoya to admit that she had the potential to be a strong leader. She already refused to take the bullshit of others, which was a necessary component of ruling. Letting your subjects walk all over you was not something a ruler should do. Not if they really wanted to change their country. 

At the very least, she would be better than the previous queen. She wouldn’t abuse those around her for her own gain, and she wouldn’t hurt any of the Grisha under her command. That was important. 

Though, she couldn’t imagine Zoya being a mother, birthing the future rulers of Ravka. Surely, Zoya knew that to be queen, she must produce heirs. Alina smiled lightly, wondering if they would be blond and rambunctious like Nikolai or dark haired and intimidating like Zoya.

Surely, Nikolai would still choose a Grisha queen, and if he wanted one that held a lot of power and was rather respected by those in the Little Palace, he would want to pick one of the older girls from their group of friends. Nadia was spoken for, as was Genya (if David realized how much the tailor loved him), and she was intent on not being Queen. That did leave Zoya. At least Zoya expressed interest in being the Queen, unlike her. 

She closed her eyes, trying to push away the thoughts of Nikolai and Zoya marrying. The two biggest divas if ever she’d met them. If they ended up marrying and ruling, there would never be a dull moment in Os Alta. And Alina couldn’t help but think that she was looking forward to that future.


	4. Chapter Two: Mal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mal noticing that Zoya and Nikolai seem to care about each other more than they ever cared about him and Alina. Wondering if perhaps they are in love with one another. Takes place during Ruin & Rising. Touch of Malina.

Mal shook his head as he heard what Alina had said. Zoya, beautiful Zoya, had an interest in the boy king. Of course she did. Her heart was with a person for what they could do for her. After their first time, the only reason he’d had more of her was because Zoya was angry with Alina for the situation with the Darkling. She wanted to make Alina jealous, knowing that Alina liked Mal. 

He’d been an idiot when he’d been with Zoya. Until that point, he’d spent so long not noticing his feelings for his best friend that he would have felt odd declaring them at that point in time. She’d already had more than one man willing to use her for her powers, and he didn’t want to look just the same as they did. 

He’d always loved her, first as friends, for a very long time. Then he gradually began to notice her more. Falling in love could be very subtle, and it should take time if it’s worth building. 

Nikolai- that was a man that would do well with someone like Zoya. Together, their ruthless ambition (paired with the fact that she apparently desired the crown), they would do well for Ravka. Better than Alina would, given that she didn’t want to be the Queen. 

He wouldn’t be surprised if there were an attraction between them. Power attracts power, and Nikolai seemed to want a Grisha queen. Zoya was powerful, and sought more power, her amplifier was proof of that. He knew that the two of them didn’t truly care for him and Alina, they merely saw the two of them as necessities. Without him and Alina, the war would be over and lost. They had the qualities that made them good for Ravka. 

He couldn’t wait until the war was over. If he and Alina somehow made it out alive, he would marry her, the two of them living on some farm near the mountains. Far away from all the drama and court life of Os Alta. It wasn’t who they were. Yes, it suited a great many of those that they surrounded themselves with, but they had grown up in it, they knew how to deal with it, unlike he and Alina. 

Besides, there was no way that they didn’t deserve better than people who wanted to use them for their power. They were doing their duty, fighting for their country. Yet, he couldn’t fault their power for attracting that of others. It was what would happen. 

Zoya was hard to love, but maybe Nikolai’s ‘pleasant’ demeanour and abilities when it came to charming women would help her relax and loosen up. If the king wanted to look at her the way that he had begun to, all the power to him. He knew that she was worth a bit of pain. 

Fortunately for him, he knew that Alina was worth more to him. That he meant more to her than Nikolai could ever be. Maybe this was how it had to be.


End file.
